Carlos Through the Years
by Q-girl900
Summary: Little ficlets about little Carlos. From finding a love for science to finding a home called Night Vale. ((Chapters un-related except for being about Carlos))
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: A full WTNV fic? Why yes, here it is. I adore exploring Carlos's past and these are just my theories. I own nothing.**

Seven and Three-Quarters

He had never been a particularly normal child, even for growing up in What It Is. He didn't go outside and play with his brothers or even help his mother with his new sister. All he did was sit in his room and read. His father thought it was very odd, but his mother encouraged his love of books- not just any books though. No, Carlos loved science books. Anything about any kind of science, he loved. When he turned seven his mother signed him up for an experiments lab at the rec center, it was meant for ages eight and older, but they let him join since he would be eight before the program had finished.

He was tall for seven- well seven and three-quarters (almost eight, you know) as he would correct you. His hair was a long, messy mop of black curls. His eyes were always bright with curiosity about everything and everyone.

"Carlos, dear, get your brothers to come in for dinner please," his mother would ask.

"But mom," he groaned. "Just one more page, pleeease. It's just fascinating!"

"No, no, after dinner, get your brothers. Carmen, get down here!"

"Coming mom," Carlos's five-year-old sister would announce.

"Nando, Ash, dinner!" Carlos called into the yard. They ate in silence, each of them waiting for dad to get home, each having different reasons. Nando and Ash would want to play outside with him, Carmen would want him to carry her around like the princess she thought she was, but Carlos would give a hello and hide in his room for the rest of the night. Something about being around his dad made him feel a little lonely. Like he didn't quite understand something. He usually ignored it with another article on anti-bodies or fossils.

Carlos loved the science labs he did at the rec center on Friday afternoons. They were very easy experiments, but they were thrilling nonetheless. He always partnered with his self-proclaimed best friend, Janet- an eight-year-old with stormy gray eyes and unmanageable red curls. Janet loved science nearly as much as Carlos did and they often swapped books or magazines they found especially interesting.

"Hey Janet! Look what I found,' Carlos said, came running in one day.

"What is it," she asked. He held up a small pale blue rock.

"I've never seen anything like it before! But this one looks like it belonged to someone. See, on the bottom, there's writing." He flipped it over so she could see it. There was felt tip marker that read '_Vimbee; First real world example.'_

"That's amazing, Carlos! We have to show someone!"

"Who? I just found it on the road, I'm gonna keep it for myself. Unless you wanna share it."

"But you're the one who found it."

"I wouldn't have found it if I wasn't walking here. And I wouldn't be walking here if I hadn't become friends with you. Science is no fun without a friend."

When labs began winding down for the year, Carlos was a little sad. He would go to school and get to do _some_science there, but not much. He had to wait a whole year before he got to have his Friday labs again. His mom and Janet's mothers had become good friends, so Carlos knew they'd keep in touch.

On the last day he said goodbye to all his friends and promised they'd sign up next year too, he'd see some of them at school in a few weeks, like Janet, but others didn't even live in What It Is. A few came from Where It Went or Why It Did It. He knew most of his new friends would keep their promises and he would miss the ones that didn't, but mostly he would miss his seat that no one else sat in but him. Right up front where he could do science every Friday afternoon.


	2. Chapter 2

Thirteen

"Carlos you can't keep hiding behind that book," Janet said.

"Sure I can, watch me."

"It wasn't even that bad, I don't even think she noticed."

"I tripped over my own feet, how could he not?"

"What," she asked, suddenly confused.

"Nothing," he amended quickly.

"Right, well, I don't even think Kelly saw you, let alone cared."

"Yeah, okay," he sighed. Carlos wasn't quite sure how to explain to Janet that he didn't care whether Kelly saw him fall or not. He wasn't interested in Kelly the way most boys at school where, she was considered the prettiest girl at the middle school in What It Is, Carlos cared if _he _saw. He couldn't explain what was wrong with him; he didn't like the girls at his school or anywhere really. But there was Brad. He gave Carlos a certain nervousness that he hadn't felt before. He dreaded anyone ever finding out about his crush, even Janet.

Carlos put down the book and moved to brush curls out of his eyes, only to remember his mom had sheared them only the night before. "Should we go find Sydnee," he asked.

"She's probably with her friends."

"I know, but I don't like them, I'm worried about her."

"Me too, but we can't run her life for her."

"But we can help."

"No we can't, she's two years younger than us, we won't even go to school together next year, she has to fight her own battles."

Carlos thought about Sydnee. If Carlos was tall for a thirteen year old, Sydnee was a giant. She was taller than him by a few inches and she was only eleven. Her so-called friends were always making fun of her and Carlos always felt the need to protect his fellow aspiring scientist.

Finally, he decided to look for Syd. The lunch room was huge, it had to fit all the students and faculty members at once. Carlos and Janet walked to the sixth grade section and looked for the tallest girl. When they found her, she was crying at a table alone.

"Sydnee, what happened?"

"M-my friends… they a-all left me, because of t-the s-scar on my face…"

"Syd, it's okay,' Janet said, taking the empty set next to the younger girl. Carlos sat on the other side of her.

"Yeah, it's their own fault for losing out on a great friend like you, scientifically speaking of course." Sydnee cried more but nodded thanks to her friends.

"Come on, you can eat with us," Janet said decidedly. She picked you Syd's bag for her and they moved back to the eighth grade section of the lunch they sat, Carlos looked at the state his younger friend was in. Her large brown eyes were now red and puffy. Her long blonde hair was pulled up and you could very clearly see the scar that reached from her left temple to her jaw. He thought about the night she told him and Janet about the scar. Her father had gotten angry with her for not finishing her homework- Syd's dyslexia made it difficult for her to finish schoolwork. He father was so mad. He took off the belt around his waist and he gave it a sharp flick at her face… She never saw him again after that night, she woke up in a hospital with stitches across her face. She had only been eight years old.

"I can't believe they'd be so cruel to you," Janet stroked Syd's hair. "If you won't tell someone, I will." She got up and went to talk to a teacher, leaving Carlos with Syd.

"You okay?" he asked awkwardly.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Can I ask you about something though?"

"Sure, I guess."

"Do you, like, I dunno, like someone? All these kids talk about crushes and I just.. I don't get it. Maybe I'm just too immature…" Carlos hesitated with an answer. He thought for a while if he should tell her about Brad or if he should lie…

"Yeah, actually. I do." He turned pink.

"Who?" she inquired. Carlos nodded to a couple of tables away, where Brad and his friends were laughing.

"Him," he whispered. He felt something in his gut swell a little, he had admitted it now.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Extreme trigger warnings. Harsh language that killed me to type and mentions of abuse (physical and verbal) as well as self-harm. This chapter is meant to show how far Carlos has come and how brave he really is, I do not in any way support some of the things said or done in this chapter.**

Sixteen

"Carlos, are you okay?" Carmen asked as she tried to push the door open as her brother tried forcing it shut.

"I'm fine. Go away or I will slam the door on your arm," he returned, knowing it was an empty threat.

"I'm gonna tell mom you were crying."

"I was not, and good luck proving that. Now get out." Finally the younger girl gave up and sauntered to her room down the hall. Carlos sat at his desk and stared out the window, normally this relaxed him, but not today. He carefully rolled up his sleeve to inspect the burn on his forearm.

"Shit," he mumbled. He knew it would scar, but he also knew it could pass as a lab accident, so he didn't worry much about it. He did worry about what the next day would bring though. Janet would never forgive him for having Sydnee call the police, but what else could he do…

"Janet," he had said a week ago. "You have to stop hanging around him, he's no good for you." She had rolled her eyes at him, the eyes that had purple bags under them.

"He loves me, he's only teasing when he says all that."

"He doesn't love you. He only likes you enough to get what he wants from you."

"Shut up, Carlos! Just stop! You know nothing about us! I'm not some eight-year-old anymore!"

"But, Janet, he's right," Sydnee pleaded.

"Not you too Syd! Just leave me alone!" She had stormed out of the cafeteria. Today had been worse for all of them though.

"You're hurting her!" Syd yelled.

"Hey! You leave her alone!"

"Oh?" Brad mocked surprise. "And is the faggot and his tree-friend going to stop me?"

"Listen here you little shit-"

"Sydnee, no. Go the cops. I'll help Janet," Carlos said. She heard the severity of his voice and she obeyed.

"Brad, you need to let go of Janet." Carlos tried to mask the anxiety in his voice, but Janet was nearly unconscious on the grass while Brad gripped her wrists tightly. The bruises on her arms and legs were exposed...

"So, make me, fag." A smirk played at his lips. Carlos ignored his words, he heard them all the time, now was about helping who he hoped was still his friend.

He didn't know what to do. Brad was a great deal stronger than him, and Carlos knew he wouldn't be able to get him away from Janet.

"What do you want me to do?"

"Oh, a moment of heroism from the fuckboy. I want you to come here."

"Why?" Carlos wanted to be brave for his friend, but he wasn't stupid.

"Glad you asked." Brad dropped Janet's wrists and pulled out a cigarette and a lighter. "Have a smoke." Carlos didn't smoke, but he had a feeling this meant something else. He took a step forward.

"What do you want-" he cut himself off with a cry of pain. The now lit cigarette was burning through the sleeve of his flannel shirt and into his arm. His saving grace was the sound of a siren.

"Fuck, did you call the cops?" Carlos shook his head as it pounded. Brad dropped the cigarette and ran through the park. Carlos quickly went to sit by Janet. Her face was pretty swollen and her lips were blue, but she was breathing. The police arrived and Carlos explained it all. He left out the part about his arm, but they noticed it anyways.

"Looks like a bad burn, kid," a paramedic said.

"It's not too bad," Carlos lied. He couldn't go to the hospital, his parents couldn't know about this. School was tough enough without them threatening to send him to Where It Went instead. They took Janet to the hospital and told Carlos to go home and stay safe. He cried on the way home, he hadn't meant to, it just happened when he thought about Janet.

He got up from his desk and looked in his closet for something. He pulled out a small box and looked at the contents. His fingers shook as he picked up a shard of glass and a rag…

"No," he whispered to himself. "Not today." He threw it all back into the closet and slammed the door. He went back to his desk and looked in the mirror on the opposite wall. He saw what he always saw. A sixteen year old guy with hair too long in the back and too curly on top and all shaved on the sides. His eyes remained brown, but there was something different. There was something behind them now. Whatever it was, he didn't question it. Whatever it was, it was telling him something had changed.

**A/N: This chapter really killed me. I'm working on writing angst and I think this is a start at least. Leave a review, tell me how I did :-)**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I figure this story will have one more chapter before I end it. I have another Carlos centered fic I'm working on as of now. It will most likely have mentions of this story. That includes the use of Sydnee because I think she's great. Anyways, here's college Carlos.**

Twenty-Five

Carlos threw on a semi-clean shirt and ran out the door. Another disastrous morning… He ran to his car and barely made it to class on time. The numbers still weren't adding up for his last experiment of the semester. He couldn't get it right. He tried and tried and tried but nothing was working. He made it back to his apartment and worked on the same experiment some more. He thought about getting some food, but he didn't have any in the fridge and he wasn't quite done with his experiment. Finally a loud rumbling sound emitted from his stomach and he caught a wave of dizziness. When had he last eaten? Last night? The night before?

"Curse you, you stupid rock," he muttered. He decided to allow himself a moved to the couch and sat down slowly because his head was still spinning.

That rock was unnatural. It was tougher than steel, but, also, softer than any blanket he had ever felt. The coloring looked unnatural, but there was no evidence that it had ever been another color. He had found the little rock years ago, on his way to the rec center- to a kiddie lab group. It used to have something written on the bottom, but it had faded off a long time ago.

"Hello? Carlos? Are you in there?" He heard a familiar voice at his door.

"Yeah. Come in!" He called back. A willowy, young girl came into the apartment. "Hey, Sydnee."

"Hey, professor," she replied as she sat on the arm of the chair across from him.

"Shut up, you know I hate that word."

"Well you'd better get used to it, the university broke a lot of rules to give you this job."

"A job I didn't want," he corrected.

"But you're the best at it anyways. So I haven't seen you in like a week. Which might be a good thing 'cause you look like hell."

"Ugh, it's that stupid rock. It doesn't make sense. It's almost like it's from a different world completely."

"Maybe it is. In the land of horses and mountains."

"How many times do I need to explain to you that mountains are real?"

"Says the man who doesn't believe in _horses_."

"Have you ever actually seen a horse?"

"Yes, in fact, I have," she announced proudly. Carlos threw his hands up in exasperation.

"But did you touch it? Maybe it just _looked_ like it was a horse. Like it was around a cow or a mountain so it would make sense that it was there, but really it wasn't," he tried to reason.

"Do you hear yourself?"

"Hunger pains aside, I am of sound hearing."

"Oh! That reminds me, I brought food." Conversation forgotten, she pulled a couple of Chinese food containers out of a bag and handed one to Carlos.

"You are a literal lifesaver," he grinned at his friend before devouring the warm food.

"I know," she said, smirking and flipping her long hair. It was dyed pink now, shockingly so. The scar on her face had faded to where it was hardly noticeable in most lighting. She was considered pretty by most of the men in her classes, however she was convinced that she was destined to be alone.

Carlos worried about her, the way a big brother would. He had his own sister to worry about, but she was miles away finishing high school. Plus she had two other brothers to worry about her; Syd had no one.

"So 'ow'd it go on yer date las' night," she asked through a mouth full of rice and vegetables.

"That was last night? Shit… well… I guess he won't be calling me anytime soon…"

"You stood him up?!"

"I didn't mean to! I totally forgot, I was just so wrapped up in that rock experiment."

"What is so special about that rock?" Suddenly, Sydnee felt like she shouldn't have asked. Carlos's face grew grim and he looked down at his food.

"I found it, a long time ago. But I decided to share it with her…"

"Oh... I'm sorry I-"

"It's fine, really. I just want to understand it better. It's a good challenge."

"Sure, but take care of yourself too. You look like a bus hit you."

"Thanks."

"Any time. Go fix yourself, you have a class in an hour. See you later, _professor_."

"I swear to God, Sydnee!" He laughed.

"Bye, Carlos!"

He heard the door shut as she left. He went down the hall and showered quickly. He taught his class the same way he had earlier, and then went home again. He looked at the kitchen table where he was experimenting on the rock. He took a few steps toward it before remembering what Sydnee had said. He looked out the window and saw how dark it had gotten. Instead of experimenting, he opted for sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Twenty-Nine

"I can't believe this. You're insane," Sydnee reasoned.

"Come on! I have proof, Syd! Look, it's right there," Carlos countered as he pointed to a map. "It's right there."

"No, it's not. That is the middle of the desert."

"Have you ever been?"

"Well," she looked around, clearly exasperated. "No, but others have. There's nothing there."

"But there is. I have reason to believe that there is something there. Not thing," he corrected. "Some_where_."

"Some place just magically exists there, but no one can see it?"

"Not magically, scientifically. So, are you coming or what?"

"I'm supposed to drop all my classes to go on some adventure with you?"

"You love adventures," Carlos reminded her. She thought carefully about it.

"I'll do it. But if there's nothing there, I swear to God I'll murder you."

"Sure you will. Now go pack we're leaving tomorrow."

"Tomorrow," she exclaimed.

"Yes," was all he said as he shut the door and packed his own things.

They got up early the next morning and wasted no time hitting the road. It would take hours to reach the middle of the desert. Sydnee fell asleep on the way, so Carlos thought in silence. What if he was wrong? What if there was nothing there? But there had to be… He was risking his skin for this. Well, his job anyways.

It was nearly sunrise when Sydnee woke up. "Are we there yet," she asked groggily.

"Almost, I think."

"You think? You mean you have no clue where this play _might _be?"

"I have a general idea, but-" he stopped. The radio that had played softly cut to static suddenly.

"What happened?"

"I don't know. Flip the channel," he suggested. She tried, but to no avail.

"Nothing."

"So turn it off."

"It won't. It won't turn off."

"Maybe it's stuck, let me see." He looked at the dash and pushed the power button on the radio. It did shut down. The static was getting louder, but the volume dial wasn't working either. "What the hell.."

"Carlos look out!"

He managed to swerve just before he would've hit a large road sign that appeared from nowhere. On a road he didn't remember driving on to. The static on the radio went silent for a moment and then all he heard was a man's deep voice coming through it as he said, "Welcome to Night Vale."

**A/N: Final chapter in this story. I'll be posting my other Carlos fic soon I think. The beginning of it at least.**


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